Column - John Kanelis: Governors' conduct betrays appointment idea

It's been delivered by governors in other states who in recent weeks have made a shambles of trying to appoint U.S. senators.

To wit:

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was tossed out of office on Thursday on corruption charges relating to his appointment of Sen. Roland Burris to the seat vacated by President Obama. It seems that Blago wanted to sell Obama's old seat to the highest bidder. He was impeached by the Illinois House and stood trial in the state Senate. The thud heard 'round the country was the sound of Gov. Blagojevich getting tossed head first off the political stage.

New York Gov. David Paterson, who still has his job, made an absolute hash of the effort to find a successor to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former U.S. senator from the Empire State. Caroline Kennedy, JFK's daughter, emerged as a frontrunner after she declared her desire to seek the appointment. Then she stumbled badly in her public rollout. Her poll numbers plummeted and then she backed out, citing mysterious "personal reasons" for her withdrawal. Kennedy's pullout sparked recrimination between members of her legendary family and Paterson, who eventually settled on little-known second-term U.S. Rep. Kirsten Gillebrand for the seat.

OK, those are just two examples, but they highlight the dangers of relying on governors to do a job that voters can do for themselves.

How does this relate to the issue of electing Texas judges? Well, some judicial reformers want to give the governor the power to appoint judges, who then would stand for election. Voters would decide whether to "retain" the judges or look for someone new. If a judge messes up, he or she can be tossed out and the governor would select a successor.

I've long argued that the current partisan election of judges stinks to high heaven. We should elect these folks on a non-partisan basis. Force voters to decide which judges' judicial philosophy suits their desires, not allow them to rely on Democratic or Republican party affiliation to determine who should serve in a quintessentially non-political office.

But as the nation has seen in Illinois and New York - two states full of qualified people who could serve in the U.S. Senate - depending on governors to do the right thing can be a dicey proposition as well.

Texas has some experience with governors appointing U.S. senators. The last time it happened here was in 1993, when Democratic Sen. Lloyd Bentsen took a job as Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration. Gov. Ann Richards appointed former U.S. Rep. Bob Krueger to Bentsen's old seat. That appointment went far more smoothly than it did in New York or Illinois, but Krueger proved to be a lousy campaigner. Legendary columnist Molly Ivins once noted how the brainy Krueger was overheard reciting Shakespeare to workers during a shift change at a Port Arthur refinery.

Krueger lost his bid for election in June 1993 to Republican State Treasurer Kay Bailey Hutchison, who has served in the Senate ever since.

But in its way, the Krueger appointment validated voters' wisdom. Texans weren't enthralled with the hand-picked incumbent, so they turned to someone else.

It's the Texas way to elect everyone, it seems, to just about every office under the sun. We've managed to rid ourselves of some statewide offices over the years, such as treasurer and the inspector of hides. Our state Constitution allows counties to rid themselves of certain offices, such as the Roberts County treasurer.

If we could just get rid of constables. But that's another story ...

But we still prefer to make these decisions ourselves. As we've seen in a couple of other states, governors aren't always the know-it-alls some of them pretend to be. And some in Congress are talking about requiring elections whenever a Senate vacancy occurs, just as the House requires.

Will these appointment snafus spell the end to the judicial appointment movement in Texas? That's not likely.

But its proponents might have to find a new marketing plan.

Relying on a governor's wisdom doesn't seem to be in vogue.

John Kanelis is editorial page editor of the Globe-News. He can be reached via e-mail at john.kanelis@amarillo.com. Kanelis' column appears Sunday.